


all in the golden afternoon

by fruti2flutie



Series: wish upon a shining diamond [6]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Disney, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 06:12:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9110059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruti2flutie/pseuds/fruti2flutie
Summary: Soonyoung blushes a deep red, because his new seat is wedged between Seungkwan and Seokmin, who crowd at his sides like he’s a newborn baby in a crib and they want to coddle him. He nervously fixes his bowtie when Seokmin lays his head on his shoulder, rabbit ears tickling Soonyoung’s nose.





	

**Author's Note:**

> ah, the last one! it's been lovely writing these, i hope everyone has enjoyed reading them as much as i have writing them :-)
> 
> (*alice in wonderland)

“Is this what it feels like to be on drugs,” murmurs Soonyoung, watching awestruck as the dude in the hat across the table tries to shove a whole slice of cheesecake into his mouth. The guy with long rabbit ears atop his head, cackling, is cheering him on with a fork and spoon.

Okay.

The dude in the hat — Seungkwan, as he’d introduced himself before attempting The One Bite Challenge — horks down the cake like a starving raccoon, crumbs stuck all over his face and fingers. Some crumbs have even reached the rim of his gigantic top hat, having defied the laws of physics. When the entire slice makes it past his lips Seungkwan triumphantly bangs the tabletop and shouts, “I did it!”

The guy with rabbit ears, Seokmin, clangs his utensils together. “Hooray! I knew you could! Another one! Do another one!” So Seungkwan takes another slice of cake (strawberry shortcake, this time around) and tries again.

Okay.

Soonyoung thinks back to this morning, where everything made sense and he didn’t have to question his drug use (given that the closest he’s ever been to recreational was that time he took two Advils instead of one). He and his mother had been on their to an older cousin’s wedding, Soonyoung all dolled up with his white bowtie and suspenders, when a scurrying rabbit crossed his path and spun him towards a comically large rabbit hole. As the saying goes: curiosity killed the cat, and coincidentally Soonyoung has always been compared to felines. When he’d peered down the hole, squatting close to the edge, it appeared to be bottomless — it made him uneasy, anxious, yet also intrigued.

And then he fell. Mind him, not even a _graceful_ fall. He’d tumbled along the clefts at the sides of the pit, getting dirt and grass stains on his nice clothes. When he’d hit the bottom (which also hurt his poor backside very much) he was disoriented, confused, but even more so surprised that there was a light coming from farther down the tunnel. Knowing fully well how futile trying to scale the dirt walls to return to the surface would be, he’d headed towards the brightness in hopes of finding someone to help him get out of this mess — maybe mole people.

The tunnel led to a four-walled room, furnished with a peculiar assortment of wrong side up couches and tables, like they’d been glued to the ceiling. When he realized this the world turned from upside down to rightside up, gravity reversing, and he once more fell onto his butt. He understood very little of the situation, maybe he had a concussion, but then he’d found a small door, a batch of cookies, and a vial of clear purple liquid. The cookies were iced with the words _eat me_ , while the vial had a tag that read _drink me_.

Of course, Soonyoung’s curiosity got the best of him, _again_ , as he obliviously sampled the food and drink, following the labels without much thought. A bite of a cookie caused him to grow five times his size — his hands were as large as the tables! Panicked, he frantically looked for a way to go back to normal and downed the whole vial of liquid. Luckily it worked; however, Soonyoung shrunk down to the size of a mouse and couldn’t reach the cookies on the table to change any further. He saw the door and realized that, at his current height, he could easily go through.

When he opened the door Soonyoung had not expected to find a wonderland! The sky was the color of bubblegum, the grass highlighter green. The colorful flowers towered over him, and a group of petunias _talked_ to one another. Odd creatures pattered around his feet, fuzzy little fellows, and he found them walking to a path that looked promising. After following it for a few minutes Soonyoung realized he was going nowhere, the path trailing off into nothingness, and was on the verge of giving up. But suddenly a cat, sly smile and pink-and-purple stripes, appeared — literally out of thin air! — and directed him through the forest to “somewhere fun” with a plentiful amount of mind-boggling riddles and another cookie to get him back to the right size. And, at that point, it wasn’t like things could get any _worse_.

So here Soonyoung is now, in the presence of a hatter and a hare, at a long table with over a dozen chairs, loads of silverware, kettles full of tea, and dessert trays with sweets piled as high as mountains. The day has been a whirlwind of impossiblilites, but this “tea party” is really the icing on the cake.

Speaking of icing on the cake—

“Are... Are you finished eating?”

Seungkwan proceeds to speak with a mouth full of cake, a mixture of _bleurgh_ s and _fwryuh_ s that must mean something intelligent on another planet. Unfortunately, Soonyoung can’t control his expression and ends up squinting too hard at the hat-wearing boy.

“That’s French for ‘yes’,” Seokmin interjects, clapping like a seal. His rabbit ears are flopping all over the place, sticking out from his hair and moving to the beat of the song he hums. It sounds like a mix between _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star_ and Big Bang’s _Fantastic Baby_. Strange.

“Uh.” Soonyoung scratches his nose. “Not to be rude, but I’ve been meaning to ask—” He smiles wobbily. “Is there any particular reason why I’m here? I don’t think I exactly... belong.”

After gulping down two whole cups of earl grey tea, with twelve cubes of sugar each, Seungkwan wipes at his sullied face with the back of his hand and asks, “Which ‘here’ do you mean? Wonderland? Our party?” He gasps intensely. “Or, perhaps, the chair you’re sitting in?”

“No, that’s not—”

“Seokmin, please, guide our guest to another chair! Get him in the one with the armrests — yes, this one. This is _the_ one!” Seungkwan crosses his arms across his chest, satisfied. “Yes, I see it now. This is surely where you belong!”

Soonyoung blushes a deep red, because his new seat is wedged between Seungkwan and Seokmin, who crowd at his sides like he’s a newborn baby in a crib and they want to coddle him. He nervously fixes his bowtie when Seokmin lays his head on his shoulder, rabbit ears tickling Soonyoung’s nose.

“Hey, cutie!” Seokmin sings. “You’re cozy.”

The term of endearment has Soonyoung, somehow, turning an even more vibrant shade of crimson. Not often is he called cute — charismatic, maybe, or even devilishly handsome. _Cute_ makes him feel like he’s strung up high on a hot air balloon, rising above mountaintops, seeing planes of plains for the first time. The feeling is as foreign as this world he’s fallen victim to, and he bites into a lemon bar to stop from letting out an undignified squeal. It tastes wonderful, beyond wonderful, and the squeal escapes him anyway.

“Cutie, how’d you get here?” Seungkwan asks, hands cupping his chin.

“It’s Soonyoung, actually,” he mutters in reply. Seokmin fondly strokes his hair, and he nearly has an aneurysm. “L-Look, I don’t know. I have no clue! It all happened so fast... There’s a wedding I need to—”

Seungkwan hollers excitedly, “A wedding! I love weddings!” He jumps to his feet, climbing onto his chair and then onto the table, kicking aside a plate of macarons to stand in front of Soonyoung. “Me and Seokmin make _great_ MCs. We can even sing!” Seokmin hands him a spoon, which he holds to his face like it’s a microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen—”

“I am half-rabbit,” Seokmin says. “But go on, I am also half-listening.”

“Ladies, gentlemen, and _half-rabbits_ ,” Seungkwan amends, much to Seokmin’s delight, “I would like to welcome our one and only guest of the evening—”

“It’s one p.m.,” Soonyoung corrects, checking his watch. Seokmin has reassuringly interlaced their hands together, which has begun to relax him. Soonyoung has always liked holding hands, and Seokmin’s are warm.

Seungkwan takes a deep breath, calming himself. “Our guest of the _afternoon_ ,” he says through gritted teeth, “is the beloved Soonyoung from—” He blinks. “Where are you from?”

“Gyeonggi-do.”

“I have a cousin who lives there,” proclaims Seokmin. “She’s a baker. She has her own bakery!”

“Is that how you get all these sweets?” Soonyoung asks shyly. Grinning widely, Seokmin nods. “Send me her regards the next time you see her, because these taste delicious.” Seokmin promptly piles a plate with cookies and biscuits to shove in front of Soonyoung.

“Hello, excuse you two, I am in the middle of an introduction,” Seungkwan huffs, tapping his foot and shaking the table. “That is terribly rude: flirting in my presence without including _me_.” Both Soonyoung, a permanent shade of pink, and Seokmin chuckle. “Now, where was I?”

Seokmin fawns, “You were going to say how handsome, talented, and charming our guest is!”

“Ah, yes! Our guest! Brighter than the stars and moon, a solid twenty on a scale of ten, our Soonyoung has come to our tea party as an honored guest!” Seungkwan gushes, grin spreading to his round cheeks, and he pokes the tip of Soonyoung’s nose.

“Hooray!” Seokmin cheers, and Soonyoung laughs.

“To commemorate his attendance, Seokmin — yes, you, who else is there? — and I will serenade him with a song. A wonderful love song, that is. Stand with me, Seokmin! Come on, slow poke, rabbits are supposed to be _fast_.”

After balancing on top of the table Seokmin grabs a butter knife to hold to his face, pointing to Soonyoung and announcing cheekily, “Are you listening, Soonyoung? This’ll be for you, from the illustrious Mad Hatter and lovable February Hare! And a-one, and a-two, and a-one-two—”

 

 

 

 

Soonyoung opens his eyes and stares at a clear blue sky. He’s on his back, the short grass tickling his ankles, and the sun high in the air. The shade of the tree behind him has blocked most of the sunlight, but as it shines on his skin he realizes how warm it is. He sits forward, rubbing his eyes, looking around at his very normal, very placid surroundings.

“Huh,” he says, “that was a wacky dream.”

And yet, everything felt so _real_. There’s a sweet taste of strawberries on his lips as if a clingy hare had handfed chunks of shortcake to him; his tongue is slightly scorched like he’d drunk piping hot tea offered by an eccentric hatter. The melodic voices in his ears are crystal clear in his memory, but...

It couldn’t possibly have been real. Talking flowers? Rabbit ears? Shrinking down to the size of a button? Preposterous! Soonyoung slaps his face to knock some sense into himself. Sighing, he stands and brushes off his pants.

He has a wedding to get to.

—

“Where have you been!?” hisses Soonyoung’s mother, rushing to him as he tries to tiptoe through the church doors. (Obviously, he’d failed.) She grabs him by the shoulders, grimacing as she surveys him up and down. “Why are you so _dirty_ , my Lord, I leave you alone for _five minutes_ —”

“ _Mom_ ,” Soonyoung sighs. “Has the ceremony started?”

“No, not yet,” his mother responds. She brushes the grass and dirt stuck to his clothes and commands, “Quickly, go to the bathroom and clean yourself. You’re a mess.”

Soonyoung shuffles to the bathroom, taking a good look at himself and gasping. It looks like he’d just rolled down a grassy hillside and walked it off. There are leaves in his hair, and his cheeks are bright red and streaked with mud. He grabs a napkin and starts to wipe down his face and clothes, hoping it doesn’t stain.

He’s so concentrated on a unidentifiable mark on his elbow that he doesn’t notice someone standing behind him, bouncing on the balls of their feet, as they wait for the sink. Soonyoung sees their reflection in the mirror, stammers, “Oh, excuse me,” and moves out of the way. The person smiles amiably and washes their hands, whistling a tune under their breath.

“No problem. No problem at all,” the person says, cheeks round and lips curling, and—

Wait a second.

“What are you—” Soonyoung bites his tongue when the person looks up, expression puzzled. “S-Sorry, it’s just— You look a lot like an acquaintance of mine.”

“Strange coincidence,” laughs the stranger, flicking the water off his hands and wiping them on his checkered (yes, _checkered_ ) pants. He offers a hand to Soonyoung, a polite gesture. “My name is Seungkwan. You must be on the groom’s side. I’m the bride’s younger brother.”

Soonyoung stares at the hand, eyebrows pinched, and hesitantly shakes it. “I’m... Kwon Soonyoung. The groom is my cousin,” he declares, trying to keep the befuddlement out of his voice. Seungkwan looks just like... well, the Seungkwan in his dream. “Are— Are you here alone?”

“No, I’m with my best friend and longtime boyfriend Lee Seokmin, singer-songwriter extraordinaire and a delight at parties,” Seungkwan proclaims, but he rolls his eyes and sighs heavily as he says it.  “Seokmin gets fussy if I don’t introduce him like that, and it’s a mouthful.”

“I’ll bet,” Soonyoung chuckles. The name sounds familiar, like Seungkwan’s had been, and he’s wondering if this is all a big coincidence.

Seungkwan walks with him out of the bathroom, grinning. Inside the church, the ceremony still has yet to start. The choir is practicing their hymns. The guests are chatting quietly amongst themselves.

“Do you want to sit with us?” offers Seungkwan. “Me and Seokmin. I know we’re strangers, _but_ we have an entire pew to ourselves.”

Soonyoung’s mother is glaring at Soonyoung from her seat, definitely not impressed with his clean-up. “Ah, sure.” He smiles. “Thank you.”

Taking Soonyoung by the hand Seungkwan brings him to Seokmin, dressed in a peach polo shirt, who _suspiciously_ looks like the hare in Soonyoung’s dream. He even has that sunflower-like aura about him, too, if that makes any sense.

“Who’s this?” Seokmin asks, and Seungkwan eagerly introduces Soonyoung as he’s placed between them. “Oh, you’re bathroom buddies!”

“That sounds so _crass_ ,” Seungkwan huffs.

“But it is true,” Soonyoung points out, smiling.

Seungkwan pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. “Please, friend, _don’t_ encourage him.”

Seokmin slaps Seungkwan’s leg and leans closer to Soonyoung. “Hey, did you know that I helped get the wedding cake?”

“Really?”

“His cousin is a baker,” Seungkwan professes, waving a hand. “She owns a bakery in—”

“Gyeonggi-do?” says Soonyoung. It’s all too familiar. The scent of baked goods and brewed tea, sugarcubes and cream. Over-the-top top hats, bunny ears. Serenades, first kiss, second kiss.

“How’d you know?” asks Seokmin, jaw dropping. Seungkwan shows a similar expression.

“A wild guess,” Soonyoung proclaims. He bites his lip. “That’s my hometown, actually.”

“Geez, you’re cute! You should come on a date with us, yeah? Us three,” Seungkwan affirms, and Seokmin nods excitedly. “Oh, shh, the wedding’s starting. Hey, is it weird for a turtle to be a ring-bearer? I mean, it’s charming and all, but we’re burning daylight. Someone needs to agree with me.”

Soonyoung wonders how far down the rabbit hole is. He wonders if he’d ever made it out, and if he hadn’t he wonders if it’s okay to stay.


End file.
